Rapunzel's Modern Days
by MaggieMaybe160
Summary: This is a take on Rapunzel and Flynn in modern times.
1. Chapter 1

**Who's Throwing the Dog Down the Staircase:**

The blonde girl sleeping in the double bed in the big round room was about to wake up. It was 6:45 in the morning. Her kidnapper who held her hostage in this room was away, probably buying the girl some more paints to keep her occupied.

Rapunzel sat up in bed, her eyes half open. She ran a hand through her hair and looked at it, disappointed. She got up and went through her routine. She showered and brushed her teeth before combing her hair and tying it up. Then, she went to paint...and draw...and cook...and do another puzzle...and make some candles...and make sure all of her chores were done... and read...

"Rapunzel, I'm home." Gothel said, putting the newest crayola set on the table in Rapunzel's room before going up to the rest of the house. Rapunzel looked at the set and put it with the rest of her things.

"Mother?" Rapunzel called up through the door in the ceiling. Gothel took a moment before opening it and peering in. "Come here, I want to show you something!" Rapunzel smiled widely as Gothel made her way down the steps, asking what it was.

In truth there was nothing to show. Rapunzel took the nearest item, the frying pan she'd used to make breakfast, and hit Gothel over the head as hard as she could. Her green eyes widened before a smile cracked on her lips. She gathered everything she wanted to keep into a brown bag she found up the stairs with Gothel's things. She went back down the stairs and opened a small cupboard under the oven and took a small chameleon out. He crawled up her arm and rested on her shoulder. She took her things and the key to the basement and locked Gothel in the basement where Rapunzel had lived for 17 years.

Rapunzel walked out into the front yard, her frying pan still in her hand, and looked around. It wasn't a very busy street. In fact, this had to be the countryside. Their house was the only house here. Rapunzel frowned before continuing.

Flynn was walking. He hadn't really done anything today. Yesterday he'd been put on probation for stealing some jewels from a store at the mall. Being 17, he hadn't been charged as an adult. He decided it would be best to stay out of the lime light for a little while.

Then he saw her. He saw a girl with long golden hair in a pink T-shirt and blue jeans walking with a brown bag and a lizard. She looked a little worried. Flynn turned around. Worried was not his type.

"Excuse me!" he heard her yell. He cringed and kept walking with his hands in the pockets of his ripped, faded, jean jacket. He heard her feet on the pavement behind him. Damn she could run fast. "Sir... I'm a little lost. I need to find a city or a town."

Flynn turned around. "That way direction." He said, pointing vaguely, probably in the wrong direction.

"Could..uhm. This is awkward. Will you take me there?"

"You have got to be kidding me." Flynn said out loud, his face falling. Rapunzel didn't say anything. Instead she smiled and hooked her arm with his and started walking. Flynn stayed put. "I'm not going anywhere with you. The _kingdom _and I aren't exactly _simpatico_ at the moment, so I won't be taking you anywhere."

"There's a kingdom?" Rapunzel raised an eyebrow.

"It's Kingdom Street. Not a kingdom." Flynn rolled his eyes. Had this girl been anywhere ever?

Rapunzel won. She scowled and she pouted until Flynn yelled, "Fine!" It didn't take long for both of them to notice their individual hunger. "Are you hungry? I see a place up there." Flynn said to Rapunzel. She nodded and followed him. The sign said something about ducks but it was covered in graffiti. Flynn opened the door and the noise of fights and talking and movement stopped. A horde of 21 year old boys was all that this place had besides booze and peanuts.

"Wrong place." Flynn muttered, realizing if he were caught in a bar on probation it wouldn't look good. But, Rapunzel saw the peanuts. She walked right past all of the men and chewed on a mouthful of peanuts.

Flynn attempted to get her out before any trouble was had, saying, "We'd better get you home..."

A tall, broad, extremely tan and muscled guy slammed the door in front of Flynn. Flynn recognized him. And a lot of the others. These were boys he used to fight with for real no good reason. A shorter, white, fat guy with a shaved head and a hook instead of a hand, walked up to Flynn next. There was a boy with bruises all over and a few lumps to accompany them. He had a beanie pulled down low over his eyes which made his nose look bigger than it was. A tall skinny man with a thick beard and bald head was sorting and selling weed at a table in the back. A gay looking boy in a vest with a bad haircut leaned against a wall looking awfully proud of himself for no obvious reason. The cook looked disgruntled but wouldn't say a word. There was no indication he actually worked there, either. Two brothers who were opposites in every way sat together talking and going over the expenses for how many stitches they'd gotten recently and how the fatter one, Bruiser, hated the scarf their aunt had knitted him.

"Hey, Hookhand, Nosey, Tol, Gunter, Utilla, Bruiser, Killer..and...Vlad... What's up?" Flynn didn't succeed on trying to sound like they were all long time friends.

Rapunzel nodded to Utilla for a drink, not ever knowing the world of alcohol or that there even was one. Utilla filled a glass with a drink that looked like water. Rapunzel thanked him and took a sip.

"THIS IS NOT WATER!" She screamed. Everyone choked on laughter. The attention was off of Flynn and onto the blonde at the bar who had just taken a sip of vodka.

Rapunzel ended up chatting with Hookhand and Vlad for awhile. Vlad had an awkward obsession of unicorns. Rapunzel loved unicorns so this was the first time in years he'd actually talked about his collection. Hookhand asked Rapunzel if she'd ever played piano and to teach him. He explained that he always wanted to be a concert pianist, but his family couldn't afford lessons and his lack of a right hand didn't help.

The windows started to flash red and blue and Flynn grabbed Rapunzel's hand. The cops had arrived.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Boat is Sinking:**

Flynn and Rapunzel had just left the bar through the back when five cops and two twins walked in. The twins were talking to one of the cops.

"This woman we work for out in the country... We went to her house and there was no answer but the blonde chick was walking away and she had some kind of cooking pan... Later we saw her with the boy, Ryder. He brought her here." It was obvious by the cuffs on their wrists that this was just something to say to get out of whatever kind of trouble they were in and pin it on Flynn.

"So, what's the frying pan for?" Flynn asked as they walked on a dirt road by a creek. Rapunzel looked down at her hand and smiled guiltily.

"Nope."

"So I'm not allowed to ask where you're from, you're family, or the various objects your carrying?"

"Nope. Nuh uh." Rapunzel smiled at the look on his very undeniably attractive face. Flynn was tall and fit. He had tan skin and brown hair with a small gotee on his chin. His smile was always to one side, usually the right.

"Can I ask why you act like this is your first time going anywhere?" He raised his eyebrows. She was distracted again, looking backwards over her shoulder.

"Flynn..." Cop cars were racing after them. Rapunzel and Flynn ran straight and skidded when they got to a cliff edge over a reservoir of some kind. When the cops cornered them, they all got out of their cars and there was one dog, a German Shepard who growled at Flynn. Rapunzel got nervous and slammed the frying pan over each officers head.

"Double Tap." Flynn said as a joke, referring to the zombie movie he'd watched last weekend. Rapunzel had never seen said movie so she hit each officer over the head once more. Flynn's eyes widened and he nodded at Rapunzel when she raised an eyebrow as if to ask if that's what double tap meant.

"Come on." Rapunzel tied everything of hers onto a belt loop on her pants and dove straight into the water next to the sign that said "no swimming." Flynn looked at the dog that was now advancing on him. The collar said Max. Flynn jumped. It didn't take long for his whole body to be consumed by ice cold water.

They came up from the water, gulping for air. "Holy shit, that's cold!" Flynn said, making a beeline for the closest bit of land he could see. Rapunzel followed him. Her chameleon did not look happy at all.

Flynn and Rapunzel ended up on a grassy hill. Rapunzel was obviously finally feeling the impact of her day. She'd run away from her kidnapper, run from the cops after assaulting them, and basically kidnapped a boy into showing her where the city was. She burst into quiet sobs.

"I'm so sorry, Flynn." She buried her face into her knees as she hugged her legs to herself. Flynn didn't move. He looked over at her, then down at the pissed off chameleon on the grass next to her.

"Eugene." He corrected her. He didn't know why he'd done it. He'd never told anyone his real name. "My real name is Eugene Fitzherbert." She looked up at him with a small smile.

"I either murdered or severely injured a person, who kidnapped me when I was a baby, today." Rapunzel smiled wider before the expression on his face told her this was not normal.

"You also attacked the cops." Flynn laughed despite himself. Rapunzel laughed, too. "let's go find somewhere to dry off."

Neither of them had realized how far the city really was. They stopped at a hotel and got a two bed room. Rapunzel took a sheet and hung it from the ceiling between the two beds. On her side of the room she set everything out to dry and set her chameleon, Pascal, near the heater. She draped a towel around herself before going into the bathroom and taking a shower. When she came out she went back to her side of the room and crawled into her bed.

"Goodnight, Eugene." She muttered.

"Night, Blondie."

In the morning, at 7am precisely, Rapunzel found her clothes had dried. She got dressed and started to tidy up the room. At 7:15 she woke up Flynn.

"What the hell. I was sleeping."

"Who sleeps past 7?"

"Normal people." Flynn shoved his face into his pillow and let out a sigh. Rapunzel waited for a few seconds. He started snoring.

"I said wake up." Rapunzel gave him a light shove.

"I'm awake." Flynn muttered.


	3. Chapter 3

**This Time I'm Going to Loose: **

"Did I tell you today's my birthday?" Rapunzel asked Flynn as they walked. Flynn looked over at her and shook his head. "I don't know what I want to do when I get to the city. I know I want a real birthday celebration. I used to look out of the window when I was kept upstairs..." Rapunzel faltered, feeling nervous talking about her kidnapper's house. "I would look out the window every night on my birthday and I could see thousands of little lights. Not like any other night. It was so beautiful."

"Why didn't you leave before?" Flynn asked. Rapunzel shrugged, trying to redo her pony tail. The hairband snapped. Her hair fell loose and Flynn's jaw dropped. Golden hair fell to the ground behind Rapunzel. She scowled at it. She kept walking but Flynn watched as more seemed to unfold from the pile that used to be at Rapunzel's feet.

"I am so tired of this mane." Rapunzel said as Flynn caught up, still looking back at the trail of hair.

"How is there that much hair?"

"I wasn't allowed to cut it. I don't know why. Gothel has this thing about ladies have long hair. Only ugly people have short hair." Rapunzel sighed. "When I find my real parents, I'm cutting all of this off and dying it brown."

There was a growl from behind them. They both turned and there was the police dog, Max, from those cops Rapunzel had probably killed. Rapunzel smiled.

"He is so cute." She knelt down and put out her hand for him to smell it. His eyes moved to her and off of Flynn and he sniffed her hand. "Hold this." She said to Flynn, handing him her frying pan. She started to pet the dog. "Sit."

Max hesitated. "Sit..." He sat. "Oh you're such a good boy!" Rapunzel pet the fur on his head. "Yes you are. Are you tired from chasing us, bad people, all over the place?" The dog hesitated before pushing his face into Rapunzel's hand. "Nobody appreciates you. Do they?" Again, the dog was a dog and didn't understand what was happening, but nuzzled his face into Rapunzel. "Nothing but a big sweetheart. Isn't that right..." Rapunzel checked the training collar. "Max."

So Max, lead off his police training, followed Rapunzel and Flynn.

"Wow." Rapunzel gazed at the city. There was that sign on the edge of the street that read "Kingdom St." People milled about. It looked like there was a farmers market happening at the moment. As Rapunzel made her way into the city, her hair was stepped on, wheeled over, and trampled. Flynn picked up the piled of hair into his arms and looked around. There were a few girl scouts braiding dolls hair and each others'.

"Girls?" Flynn got their attention. They all looked up and saw the mounds of hair. They beamed. Before long, Rapunzel had a braid that looped and kept her hair off the floor. To make it even prettier, the girls stuck little flowers into the braid. They hair sprayed it to make it stay and stepped away to marvel at their work.

"Oh! Thank you!" Rapunzel did a swirl.

Flynn smiled. He couldn't deny that the girl was beautiful. And funny. And a little quirky. And nice to be around. He felt a blush rise into his cheeks as she asked him if she looked okay.

Pascal and Max were both being held by Flynn. Pascal was the color of the pavement and Max was sniffing various objects, getting too distracted to notice some police walk by, talking about five cops that had been seriously injured and their police dog in training was missing.

"What do you want to do today, Princess?" Flynn asked, finding his joke somewhat funny. A girl he found cute in a place called "Kingdom". Rapunzel smiled, thinking.

"What's that?" She pointed and walked over to a small crowd.

There was a picture up of a man and a woman holding a baby. There were toys and flowers and post it notes all for the family. "For the lost Princess." A small girl told her baby brother as she added a flower to the pile.

Rapunzel took a flower out of her hair and added it to the pile, giving a small smile to the little girl who was there, explaining the situation to her little brother. Rapunzel didn't stay to listen.

There was a boy selling bandanas with the city's symbol on it. The purple bandana had a golden sun in the center. Flynn bought Rapunzel one.

"Oh look!" She pointed over to a chalk drawing contest on the street. She walked over, dragging Flynn who dragged Max and Pascal, over to an empty space. Rapunzel made a purple and pink flower with a golden sun in the center to match the city's symbol.

"Ice cream?" Flynn asked, nodding toward a small shop. Rapunzel nodded and they bought two cones. Rapunzel got strawberry and Flynn got Vanilla. They ate in the shade of an eve.

"What's that?" Rapunzel pointed to a library. Flynn smiled and took her hand. They tied Max and Pascal outside and went into the library to look at atlas'. They sat next to each other with their shoulders touching, scanning over pictures of the globe.

When they went back outside there was music playing. Rapunzel took Flynn's hands and pulled him into the crowd to dance.

"You look beautiful." Flynn smiled. Rapunzel blushed.

"You too. I mean handsome. I mean...uh... You look wonderful." She settled.

"I'll take all of that for a compliment." He smiled. "Look, tonight they light a bunch of lanterns and let them up into the sky for the Lost Princess." Flynn explained a moment later. Rapunzel nodded.

"Do we get to?"

"Yes." Flynn smiled. "What's a birthday without a celebration?"


	4. Chapter 4

**It Goes "Click, click, click"**

Flynn rented a small boat and bought them two lanterns. Max wasn't allowed on the small boat, so they tied him at the dock and left him with some apple slices and kibble and a bowl of water.

"Where are we going?" Rapunzel smiled as Flynn pushed the boat away from the dock.

"Well, best day of your life... I figured you should have a decent seat." Flynn let their boat sit in the middle of the lake. The sun was gone, behind the mountains and hills. The stars started to come out one by one. Rapunzel looked at her reflection in the water and sighed. "You okay?"

Rapunzel shrugged. "I've been dreaming about this my entire life. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?"

"It will be."

"And what if it is... What do I do then?"

"That's the good part. You get to go find a new dream."

"Thanks." Rapunzel smiled, feeling a million times better. "Want to put flowers in the water?" Flynn paused. Where had that even come from?

"Okay." They started taking out some flowers from Rapunzel's hair and putting them on top of the water. They all floated and dispersed.

Rapunzel and Flynn were looking at each other in the water's reflection when the first lantern appeared in the sky. Rapunzel's heart leapt. "Look!" She pointed and looked at Flynn before trying to stand up too fast. The boat turned over.

"Help!" Rapunzel screamed, not ever having learned how to swim. Flynn turned the boat back over and lifted Rapunzel with one strong arm. She started laughing.

"Let's not stand up in the boat, okay?" Flynn smiled. Rapunzel nodded and they got back into the boat. Thousands of lanterns were in the air now. They took out their lanterns and lit them, lifting them into the air and letting go.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Rapunzel asked, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah." Flynn said softly, looking at Rapunzel, glowing in the light of the lanterns. He took her hand gently in his and she looked to him, blushing. With his free hand, Flynn stroked some of her wet hair out of her face, left his hand on her jaw and drew her toward him.

The kiss was soft and sweet. Rapunzel moved to sit next to him and he rested him arm around her shoulders. When the lanterns started going out, Flynn took them back to the dock where they had left Max with their things. Flynn helped Rapunzel out of the boat and she handed him her frying pan while she put her bag around her shoulder. They started walking back to the city, hand in hand, when there was a shout.

Cops started running toward them. They pushed Rapunzel out of the way and cuffed Flynn. "I didn't do anything!" Flynn was yelling as they dragged him to a police car. One of the cops had the frying pan.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel screamed, getting up and running. She was put into another car and Max was left at the dock.

Rapunzel sat on the bed in a large room with other sleeping girls. She stared at her hands, knowing that the attack on the officers was her and that by Flynn holding her weapon, they'd taken him. She got up and walked to the bathroom. One of the mirrors had broken earlier when a girl had been refusing to come into the orphanage. Rapunzel picked up a shard of mirror from the floor and hacked at her hair.

"Excuse me..." Rapunzel woke one of the girls who had been there longer. She dyed her hair every few months, so she had a whole stash of different colors. The girl sat up, not tired at all.

"Yeah?"

"Can I trade you something for the brown hair dye?" Rapunzel asked. The girl raised an eyebrow before nodding.

"The large paint brush." The girl said, nodding toward Rapunzel's things. Rapunzel nodded and went to get it.

"Will you help me?"

When Rapunzel next came out of the bathroom her hair was brown and short. Her braid that she'd hacked off was in a garbage bag by the sink.

"Rapunzel." It was the Orphanage lady. She came in with a file. "Pack up your things. We've found your parents."

"My real ones?" Rapunzel asked, her heart skipping. The woman nodded. All the girls got up and looked out of the window and down to where the parents waited. They all saw the Mayor and his wife.

Rapunzel raced down to meet her parents. She stopped in the doorway. There was a tall, broad man with graying brown hair and blue eyes. His wife was shorter with long brown hair and big green eyes. The woman started crying as she walked forward to see Rapunzel.

Flynn sat in a room with a large mirror that he knew was a one way window. His hands were cuffed to the table and a large man sat at the other side of the table.

"Why did you attack those officers?" Flynn knew what officers. He didn't want to involve Rapunzel so he shrugged. There was a loud sigh. "Not ready to talk?" Flynn shrugged again. Another officer came in and walked Flynn out of the room and into a holding cell.

On a bench, facing the opposite way, was Vlad. The benches were for visitors of the accused. Usually they were for lawyers. Vlad turned around and faced Flynn.

"Let's get you out of here."


End file.
